Tea. May Painting a Day 5

I missed yesterday..I was spent time gardening and was head-achy
on top of it. I'm feeling better today and we took a long walk in
Red Hook, Brooklyn this morning. It's a beautiful day and it was
great to get out and about. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.
My mission for the next month with the food is to loosen up,
play with the images and techniques. I wonder if all my challenge
restrictions had the wrong effect on me? Well, I have a month to
work it out.

If you need a gift, I have 20% off all prints in my Etsy Shop until
Mothers Day if you use the code MOTHERSDAY at checkout.

Cafe. April Paint Challenge Day 23

It's a freezing cold gloomy day. I went into the local
cafe, The Black Cat for a cup of hot tea. This scene
across from me with the empty cups and plates just
struck me.

Teacup on Shelf Painting Challenge Day 11

I'm still slow because of my migraine but it's not so bad that I'm
incapacitated, luckily. I chose to paint the stuff sitting on the shelf
above my desk. I couldn't make a bigger decision that that as far
as subject matter.But just sitting still and painting made me feel a bit
better.The random things are a big fancy antique mirror I had picked
up at a flea market, some blocks painted like houses that I got from
my Mom when they downsized to a smaller apartment, I'm always
picking up rocks that I like the shape of, a little espresso cup I picked
up in Paris once, a sea dollar I got in Vancouver on a beach I think..
when we were visiting a good friend.
The little wooden bowl is made in Kenya, I picked that up at
a fundraiser to help build a school in a small village. Oh and the can
is from Japan. It had dried seaweed in it but the can was worthy of
keeping. I'm always trying to clean up and minimalize but I see I keep
a lot of little things that have good memories.

Tea, Day 2 of 30

This is not a simple challenge. Time constraints are big,
I'm just have to post what I paint, warts and all.
This one is a much too difficult and time
consuming image considering I was out all day.
Lesson learned.
These are my teapots and  bowls from the kitchen.
The teal one is an antique from Japan that my brother
brought me when he moved back to the US from Tokyo.
I use that one a lot. They are all special though.

New Work for Up With Paper

I recently completed these two cards for Up With Paper .
They just  showed up on the website so I'm seeing them
"popped up" for the first time now. The Paris card is done
with some ephemera and digitally drawn, the typewriter card
is completely done in illustrator. Great fun for me..!

Teacup/Mug #2

I chose this mug today to have my herbal tea. This is
one of those really sturdy grounding kind of mugs. I was
in a huge rush this morning and needed to drag this around
with me while I was getting ready to go out. My husband
bought me this one...
Maybe he is trying to send me a message.

Teacup Series

It turns out that caffeine is my enemy. Once I
completely it cut out my migraines are about
70% better. So no more of my beloved green
teas. My brother used to bring me back a whole
variety of them from Tokyo, they made me so happy,
but I won't touch the stuff anymore. So I'm having
herbal teas only.. I haven't found one that I love as
much. Any suggestions? I grow lot's of herbs in my
garden so I've been using lemon verbena, mint, an anise
and chamomile. It's very refreshing to use the fresh plant
directly in hot water. I need to take time to choose the
right teacup each morning so it's still a special ritual.
I've had a set of these for 25 years or so. They were
a series of patterns put out by Swid Powell by famous
architects. This one is by Robert Venturi called
"Grandmother"

Hopeful

I'm not complaining here, just explaining.... about not working,
not blogging, not really living.  The month of December and the
beginning of January were basically lost to Migraine... I just let
it go and tried not to stress on top of it, that just makes it worse.
The good news is that during it all I started going to acupucture
with the most amazing, intuitive, experienced woman, Dody.
I've had a week (1 week!!!! even that little seems amazing to me)
basically headache free. I did things, and saw friends, and cooked
meals, the small things seem SO special when you have chronic
pain for so long. I started drinking green juices daily, green tea
and raw veggies. getting all the toxins out.
 My head isn't there for drawing yet, but I'm trying to get there,
and trying not to worry about not being there. I'm feeling hopeful
that the bad stretch is over.....

IF-Remedy

I have house guests this week. My brother from Japan
is in town with his wife and 3 kids. 5 extra people
in my small house.. for 10 days. I love it, and it's
wonderful to have them here, but the chaos and noise
and mess can be overwhelming.
I want to curl up with a good book and a hot cup of tea
and silence. That would be my remedy, I won't get
much of it, but I'll try to get a bit.

Teacup Collages

These teacups were passed down to me from my Grandmother,
They've been tucked away in the closet for years. I don't drink
from them very often at all. So I felt it was time to pull them out
and start a series based on something I love. 

IF-Dessert

My new work has been focusing on painting and collage, it's been

a great challenge to play with the texture, color, composition.

Here is some afternoon tea with chocolate cake. I'd love to

take some time in the day to enjoy this!

watercolor teacups

small teacup sketches

IF-Breakfast

Breakfast usually consists of the paper, a big cup of tea, orange juice, a bowl of yogurt with berries and maybe a piece of fruit saved for later...

My morning tea.

Hydrangeas and Tea

This makes me very happy every morning, a good cup of tea in a pretty cup

and some beautiful flowers from the garden.

IF-Equipment

Decorative teacups, teapot, spoon,

I use these every day to make, and enjoy my tea.

Paragon Fortune Telling Teacup

Paragon Fortune Telling Teacup, originally uploaded by Beads By Laura.

I just came across this most beautiful teacup!

The colors, it's fortune telling abilities, the writing.

Perfect!